Ghosts of Valentine's Day
by Alyssa86InMN
Summary: Kate is visited by three spirits on Valentine's Day, showing her the way toward true love. This takes place in Season 1 and I imagine it can be a canon piece.
1. The Set-up

He got on her nerves like no man ever had. In fact, he pissed her off most of the time, but here she was stuck with him. He had become her shadow, following her day and night, observing how the detective moved, how her brain worked. His childlike enthusiasm drove her crazy. _Would this man-child ever grow up? _She thought. She kept telling herself that he would be gone from her life soon enough. He had enough information to write several books, so surely he would leave as quickly as he came. That night, Kate Beckett sat at her desk going over paperwork; her team had already left for the night and she was burning the midnight oil since she really had no other place to be. Kate's eyes started to go out of focus as she stared at the same sheet of paper for nearly ten minutes. She shook her head and rubbed her eyes, trying to wake herself up. She took a hit from her cup of coffee hoping the caffeine jolt would keep her eyes open. _Maybe if I just lay my head down for a bit._ Kate compromised with herself. She pushed the paperwork to the side, crossed her arms on the desk and laid her head upon them. Her mind drifted in and out of consciousness before she finally succumbed to sleep.

"Katie. Katie, honey." She heard a feminine voice calling her in the distance. "Katie, it's me. Can you open your eyes?"

Kate rustled in her sleep, mumbling incoherently. Her eyes fluttered open, focusing on the face of a woman with brown hair and kind, brown eyes.

"Hi, Katie. Do you recognize me?" the woman asked, smiling so bright she could blind someone.

Kate jumped, pushing the rolling chair back with her in it. "No, no, no, this can't be happening!" She exclaimed. "You are supposed to be dead!"

"And I still am. I'm just here to give you a message."

Tears formed in Kate's eyes. "Mom, how are you even here? I don't understand. Am I dead, too?"

"No, honey, you are fine. As I said, I'm here to relay a message." Johanna stated.

Kate reached out, wanting to touch the woman who had been taken from her so long ago. She wanted to confirm that she was real, feel her warmth that she longed for almost every night. Johanna bent down, bringing Kate's hand to her flushed cheek, so full of life. Johanna covered Kate's hand with her own. The warmth Kate longed for from her mother radiated down her arm, tingling her senses. It made its way to her core making Kate feel like she was glowing with light and happiness. She was certain she could rival the sun in that moment.

"I've missed you so much, Mom. I have been so lost without you."

"You've managed to find your way though, haven't you?" Johanna's eyes shined with love. "Katie, I've been sent to give you a message. A gift of sorts." Kate listened intently. "The powers that be feel you are missing your chance."

"Chance at what?"

"True love. I've been sent to show you the way. Three spirits are going to visit you, the past, present and future."

"Is this a Charles Dickens set up?" Kate asked, her brows furrowing.

"It's the Valentine's Day version." Her mom smiled playfully. "I want you to take this." Johanna took Kate's hand from her cheek and placed a small metal object in her palm. "It's to remember me by."

Kate looked down and saw a small gold heart with a red gemstone in the middle. She squeezed it tight and looked up at her mother. "I'll always remember you, Mom."

"Look, Katie. I need to leave now. Remember there will be three spirits here to show you the way. Don't be scared. I love you so much, my girl. I'm so proud of you." Johanna squeezed Kate's hand and brought it to her lips in a soft kiss.

"Mom, I love you so much." Kate whispered as her mother vanished.

**A/N: This will be a four parter. So stay tuned for more. I hope to get this whole thing written and up here by Valentine's Day.**


	2. The Past

Kate sat back in her chair, tears still in her eyes. _Did that just happen?_ She thought, bringing a hand to cover her eyes as she let her head fall back. Her breathing was ragged and shallow.

"Kate." A male voice called nearby.

Kate jumped up, startled because she thought she was alone. "Holy, mother of…" Kate looked in front of her to see a man sitting on her desk. He was wearing a brown leather coat and a red woolen scarf around his neck. He smirked, clearly enjoying startling Kate. "Jake?" Kate asked. "I haven't seen you since college."

"Yeah, ever since you dumped me." Jake said. "Don't worry, I forgive you. You were going through a rough time."

"What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to show you your past. Show you the error of your ways."

"Are you dead too?" Kate questioned.

"No, I'm kind of a manifestation of your mind. I was sent by the powers that be."

"God?"

"Something like that." Jake smiled. "Come on, I have a lot to show you." He said, getting off the desk and holding out his hand.

Kate stood from her chair and took his hand. Instantly, a wind blew through the precinct, swirling around the two of them. Kate's hair was lifted and Jake's scarf waved in the breeze. Paperwork that Kate had been working on flew from the desk and she tried to contain it, but Jake held on to her hand tight. Kate closed her eyes, but then felt the wind stop.

"Kate, we are here." Jake stated, squeezing her hand.

Kate opened her eyes as she found herself standing outside Wilbur Hall, her freshman year dormitory. She watched as people she recognized exited the building carrying loaded backpacks.

"Can they see us?" she asked, looking to Jake who by now had let go of her hand and had his face pressed against the window looking inside.

"No, they can't see us." He said. "I think it's the right time." He moved away from the window and grabbed Kate's hand again, dragging her into the building.

"Wow, this brings back so many memories." She said, looking up and around the foyer.

"Today is Valentine's Day 1999. It was a little over a month ago that your mom passed away and you decided to tough it out and continue going to Stanford. Of course, you ultimately left for the police academy a short while later. Do you remember this day?" Jake asked, standing next to Kate, his hands now in the jacket pockets.

"Honestly, the months following my mom's death were all a blur." She admitted.

Jake motioned for Kate to follow him as they walked up the stairs to the second floor. They passed dorm room after dorm room, some with their doors open and loud music playing, most doors, decorated with paper hearts and cupids, were shut. At the end of the hall stood a young woman knocking on a door. Kate and Jake approached the girl. Kate noticed the door was bare and had her name on it.

"That's Jill. She was my friend in college, but we lost touch after I left." Kate stated, still taking in her surroundings.

"Kate, I know you are in there." Jill called as she knocked. "Look, a bunch of us were going out tonight to celebrate. You should come with us, it will be good for you." Jill sighed deeply, turned from the door and went back to her own room, giving up for now.

"Shall we go inside now?" Jake asked, offering his arm for Kate. Kate obliged and together they passed through the door like ghosts.

In the room, a young Kate sat on her bed with her back against the wall, hugging a pillow. Her brown hair flowed down her shoulders and twisted in loose spirals in front of her face. She was on the brink of tears and tried stopping it from happening by sucking in air, letting it out ragged and shaky. Kate picked up the phone and dialed a number.

"Jake? I can't do this anymore. I want to break up." Young Kate said when the person answered.

"What is so important about this day? Why did you bring me to this moment in time?"

"It's the day you decided to not let anyone in anymore. You shut down and blocked any human connection that came your way."

"My mom said, this 'gift' was supposed to show me something about true love. Are you saying that you were my true love?" Kate asked.

"No, you'll get to that later. I was just a bump in the road of love, but you breaking up with me shaped the way you lived your life for the next ten years. You decided you couldn't risk loving and losing someone again, so you ended things before you got hurt."

Kate reflected on the last ten years of her life. She didn't have any meaningful relationships with men and it saddened her to realize she was basically floating through life with no direction. She felt her eyes start to prickle with tears as the extent of her loneliness came to fruition. Kate closed her eyes to fight the tears from falling, but when she opened them, she was back in the precinct and Jake was gone.

**A/N: I'm really going to try to get this finished by Valentine's Day. I have an article due Tuesday, so I'll see if I have time to get the next chapter out before then.**


	3. The Present

**A/N: Sorry this took so long to get out. I got distracted by school and then my dad ended up in the hospital, so I haven't been doing very well at keeping up on this.**

Kate stood by her desk, looking around, waiting for the next person to show up. She didn't have to wait long for someone to appear. She turned at the sound of heels on the tile floor of the precinct. In all her glory, Martha walked from the elevator toward Kate.

"Martha? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to discuss your present situation, Katherine."

"You're my spirit of the present? Why were you chosen?"

"You'll see." Martha said cryptically. "Shall we go?" She offered her elbow to the detective and the two of them walked toward the elevator and boarded. Martha pushed a button on the control panel and the lift went up.

"How is this elevator going up? The precinct is the top floor." Kate asked confounded.

"Just a little magic that comes with this situation."

The elevator stopped a few seconds later and the doors opened to a well-designed hallway. Kate had been here once before, it was Castle's building. Martha dragged Kate to Castle's door.

"Are you ready?" Martha asked, looking up at Kate expectantly.

"Do I have a choice?"

"Let's go." Martha said as they stepped through the door like Kate and Jake had done at the dorm.

Inside the loft, Castle and Alexis sat at the kitchen counter. Castle was nursing a cup of coffee and Alexis, a glass of water. They were talking, but Kate couldn't hear them. Martha, still holding onto Kate's arm, brought her closer to the father and daughter.

"I feel like we could be something great." Castle said when Kate and Martha were within ear reach. "I just have this feeling, something I've never felt before with anyone else before. It's like everything is right in the world when I am with her."

"Why don't you tell her that, Dad?" Alexis asked.

"I don't think she is ready to hear it. Something is holding her back, something I am not sure of. It's like she is afraid of putting herself out there, afraid to be vulnerable."

"Who are they talking about?" Kate asked.

"You, darling." Martha stated.

"Castle's talking about me? I had no idea he had these feelings. Well, I suspected, but I thought he was just trying to make me one of his conquests, someone disposable to him."

"I am certain we are meant for something amazing, like rock-the-world, earth shattering kind of something." Castle continued.

"You should tell her. What have you got to lose?" Alexis asked.

"I can't, if I tell her how I feel, she'll probably kick me to the curb and refuse to work with me anymore. I can't risk losing her altogether."

Kate watched as Castle admitted having feelings for her. She was uncertain what this new revelation meant or how this played a part in her journey toward true love that she was apparently on at the moment.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Kate asked Martha.

"Take it at face value for now. You still have one more visit to go through and everything will become clearer after that." Martha said, slowly leading Kate back to the front door.

"Who is going to visit me next?"

"It's a surprise, but you'll find out soon enough. Now dear, we must be going. We don't want to be late for your next appointment."

Martha took Kate back through the door, down the hallway and into the elevator where they headed down again. Martha let go of Kate's arm as Kate stepped off the elevator. She turned back toward Martha to say something, but she was gone.


	4. The Future

Kate slowly made her way back to her desk, but she noticed when she entered the bull pen that there was a teenage boy sitting in her chair, his arms above his head with his hands clasped together. He had a certainness about him that pissed Kate off.

"Who are you and why are you in my chair?" Kate asked, getting angry.

"I'm Finn. I'm your next spirit." He dropped his arms so they rested on his stomach.

"You sure do have an annoyingly confident air about you. It kind of irks me."

"I get it from my dad." Finn said, smirking.

"So where are you taking me?" Kate asked curtly.

"I'll show you." Finn got up from the chair, grabbed Kate's hand and snapped his fingers. Just like that, he and Kate were standing outside a magnificent mansion by the beach. Kate couldn't actually see the beach, but she sure could smell it.

"Whose house is this?" Kate asked.

"It's your future vacation home in the Hamptons. At this moment, you are inside with your family, enjoying Valentine's Day. Let's head inside."

Kate was hesitant, she wasn't sure she was ready to see her future. What if she had married some cad who treated her badly? She didn't want to be disappointed, although if she had a vacation home in the Hamptons, her life couldn't be too bad, now could it?

Finn, still holding Kate's hand, yanked her toward the front door and they quickly passed through to the other side. The home inside was even more spectacular than the outside, if that were possible. The room was professionally decorated and elaborate. Kate was so taken aback by the design, she failed to notice the people sitting on the couches in the living room.

"Kate, can you take him?" a familiar voice drew her back to the moment. She looked to who was saying her name, thinking they were talking to her. It was Castle, but he was talking to the future-her. She looked a little older, her hair was a lot longer and flowed over her shoulders.

"Where you going, babe?" Future-Kate asked Castle, taking the little boy, about two years old, he handed her.

"I'm just going to grab something from my luggage." Castle said, as he shuffled toward a back room.

"Mommy? I don't have a valentine this year," another little boy about four years old, sitting at the coffee table said to future-Kate.

"I'll be your valentine, sweetie."

"No, you're Daddy's valentine." The little boy protested.

"I'll be your valentine, buddy." Alexis Castle said who was sitting across from Kate on another couch.

"Okay, Lexis." He said, looking up at her and smiling a big, cheesy smile.

Present-Kate stood back in awe. Not only did she have kids and a family. She had kids and a family with Castle. "I marry Castle?" Kate voiced to Finn. "I don't even like the guy, how do I end up marrying him?"

"The way you were heading, you weren't going to end up here. We needed to show you what your life will be like if you change your ways."

"I marry Castle." Kate said to herself, testing it out seeing if she liked the feel of the words on her tongue. She was still trying to wrap her mind around her and Castle as a couple. He clearly had feelings about her, but she kind of thought he was an ass. "How does this even happen? How do Castle and I get together?"

"I can't tell you that. Spoilers." Finn said with a glint of mischief in his eyes.

"I don't understand who you are." Kate finally asked after realizing the others that she met were people she knew.

"See that little boy sitting at the table? That's me as a four year old. I'm your future son."

"You're mine and Castle's son? Castle influenced the cockiness I have been witnessing since we met."

"I'm not that cocky, Mom." Finn said. "I have a lot of you in me too."

"This is weird. Please don't call me Mom, at least not right now." Kate protested, as she turned back to the scene in the living room.

Future Castle had returned from the other room and in hand had a small jewelry box. He handed it to future-Kate who smiled in thanks as she opened it. Inside was a diamond stud necklace.

"Oh Castle, this is beautiful." She said, shifting the little boy that was still in her lap as she pulled the necklace out of the box to put it on. "I have a surprise for you too, actually." Kate pulled a long rectangular box from behind her and handed it to Castle.

Castle popped open the top and his face lit up when he saw the contents. "You're pregnant?"

"Yes, but this better be the last one." Future-Kate exclaimed with a chuckle.

"Are you ready to go?" Finn asked, breaking the trance that present-Kate was in.

"I'm just so shocked. I marry Castle and have three kids with him. This is not what I was expecting. I look so happy with him. I must love him very much."

"You do and for many years after this moment. Dad is your true love, your one and done. Now that you've seen what the future might hold, you can change the present to make sure it happens."

"It'll probably take awhile."

"It does, but the journey is worth it." Finn said, insightfully. "Now we really need to go." Finn tugged on Kate's arm as they passed through the front door again and Kate found herself back in the precinct alone.

**A/N: Bonus points for those who caught the small Doctor Who reference. What inspired me to write this story was Terri Edda Miller's tweet response to a question about how shocked would first season Kate be if she saw sixth season Kate.**


End file.
